Detroit Tigers Top 25 Prospects: #1 Matt Manning

Detroit Tigers minor league pitcher Matt Manning recently finished his first minor league season in the Gulf Coast League. He tops Motor City Bengals’ list of the top Detroit prospects.

Detroit Tigers fans haven’t always had the best luck with first-round picks.

The likes of Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello and Nick Castellanos have all worked out. However for every Verlander, Porcello and Castellanos, there’s a Ryan Perry or Jacob Turner.

Detroit, which didn’t even have first-round selections in 2011 and 2012 due to free agent signings, has seen many first-round fail to live up to their draft position.

What’s more, many of the franchise’s first-round picks were dealt before they had a chance to reach Detroit.

Chance Ruffin was flipped to Seattle in the Doug Fister deal, while Corey Knebel headed to Texas in the Joakim Soria swap.

Additionally, Jake Thompson headed to the Reds as part of the Alfredo Simon deal.

Despite so many first-round picks failing to develop in Detroit, things could be changing.

Last summer, Detroit selected high-school starter Matt Manning in the first round of the draft.

Debut Season Stats

A 6’6” right-hander, Manning went ninth overall. He would go on to make 10 starts for one of Detroit’s two Gulf Coast League teams.

Over the span of 29.1 innings, the 19-year-old’s ERA checked in at 3.99. He also allowed 27 hits.

What is perhaps most encouraging about Manning’s debut season was his ability to miss bats and limit walks.

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The right-hander struck out 46 batters compared to just seven walks. That spits out to 14.1 punch outs and 2.1 free passes per nine innings.

Stats aren’t everything, but the strikeout numbers are certainly encouraging.

Manning was able to miss those bats thanks to a blazing fastball that flirts with triple digits.

He also mixes in an excellent curveball to go along with a changeup.

Potential Future Role with the Detroit Tigers

One way or another, the top prospect should force his way into the Tigers rotation, regardless of who is ahead of him in the picking order.

Should Manning live up to his potential, he could very well join Justin Verlander and Michael Fulmer in giving Detroit multiple aces.

Next: Detroit's Second-Best Prospect Is...

Long term, a rotation headed up by Fulmer and Manning should bring plenty of success to the Motor City.